Tax Debate : Hawaiian Gardens Moves Toward a 6% Utility Levy to Pay for Police

A divided Hawaiian Gardens City Council on Tuesday took the first step toward imposing a utility users tax on residents and businesses to help pay for the city’s new police force, which replaced Sheriff’s Department services last week.

After a heated debate, the council voted 3 to 2 to tentatively approve a 6% tax on telephone, electrical, natural gas and water bills. If approved again Feb. 28, the tax will take effect April 1.

Mayor Kathleen M. Navejas and Councilmen Robert G. Canada and Robert J. Prida voted in favor of the tax. Councilmen Lupe A. Cabrera and Domenic Ruggeri voted against the tax, arguing that the city can’t afford to have its own Police Department.

Navejas chastised opponents for objecting to “a lousy 6%” tax on their utility bills to make the city a safer place to live. She has argued that the Sheriff’s Department was effective only in responding to crime, not preventing it.

The mayor, almost in tears, confided that one of her sons had a drug problem and has bought narcotics in the city. She did not identify him during the meeting.

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Navejas said the 20-officer local police force, which debuted Friday, had an immediate effect in this city of less than one square mile.

The department has four cars patrolling the city at night, discouraging motorists from racing through narrow residential streets, which had been a common practice.

“It was a quiet weekend,” she said.

Gunfire, which is almost a nightly occurrence, also dropped off during the new department’s first weekend on duty, Police Chief Walter McKinney said.

“But we’re not going to take all the credit for that,” he said, adding that gunplay may have dropped off because an intermittent truce between rival gangs is back in force.

In an unusual twist, the council majority approved the department and began leasing equipment and hiring officers before setting up the tax designed to pay for it.

Officials said the switch from the sheriff’s patrols to a local police force will increase the city’s law enforcement budget by $500,000, to $2.1 million a year. City Administrator Nelson Oliva said the utility tax will generate $500,000 to $700,000 a year for the city.

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Ruggeri argued, however, that Oliva’s projections may be too optimistic. He said the tax, which is expected to cost a typical household $6 a month, may generate as little as $300,000 a year because low-income households will be exempt.

He said the city will be spending $1.3 million more than it expects to receive in revenue in the current fiscal year.

Navejas questioned Ruggeri’s financial expertise, charging that his City Council paychecks were being garnished because of a tax problem.

Her charge provoked an angry denial from Ruggeri, who rose to his feet and demanded that Oliva confirm that the city had not withheld Ruggeri’s pay. Navejas, who runs the meetings, would not allow Oliva to respond.

Ruggeri acknowledged in an interview that the state had threatened to garnish his wages because he filed his 1991 state tax return late. But he said he cleared up the problem before any money was withheld.